On Wednesday, poster boy for inherited wealth, Prince William, nobly deigned to comment on the world of work.
At Royal Berkshire Hospital to mark five years since the pandemic began, the Prince suggested that NHS workers should have “an enforced career break” to avoid burn-out. No, he didn’t mention paying them during this break, thanks for asking.
It’s not surprising that his sense of how employment and survival are connected might be a little fuzzy, and I’m sure his impulse to give NHS workers some respite comes with the best intentions. It’s just that, without a plan to pay people while they’re on these breaks, his bright idea amounts to firing them briefly rather than a nice sabbatical.
I guess that’s one way of avoiding occupational stressors, but I fear it would occasion plenty of other problems.
Try telling your landlord that you’re on an enforced career break when he comes to collect the rent; the checkout assistant at the supermarket when it’s time to pay for the weekly shop; your friends, when they ask you to pick up your share of the dinner bill.
For millions in the UK, money is something that appears in your account once a month, and – if you’re lucky – can be eked out until the next lot comes in. If you don’t work, the money doesn’t come; career breaks sound lovely in theory, but for those of us who earn our own income, and you know, need it to live, they’re not much more than a fantasy.
Not so for William, of course, who is literally the heir to the throne, never mind a measly trust fund. As such, I have to chalk his foot-in-mouth moment down to naivety, the same way a child might make suggestions about the adult world that cause the grown-ups around them to chuckle wryly.
square JENNIE BOND
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Read MoreIf you were going to look up “privilege” in the dictionary, you’d be hard pressed to find a better definition than “first born son of a reigning monarch” – so while I don’t think he’s a bad guy, per se, I do think the Prince ought to expect a little bit of ribbing when he says something tone deaf.
In that spirit: if William did imagine that staffers would be paid during these breaks, did he think that the (famously loaded) NHS would be footing the bill? How about covering the absent person’s workload – presumably that would be handled by the NHS’s (famously copious) staff?
Look, I don’t love the Royals – how did you guess? – but part of what’s so infuriating about William’s brainwave is that, on some level, it’s a great idea. In the same way as some of the best chess moves come from total novices, stumbling into a stroke of genius, William’s suggestion is practically radical, disruptive, if you squint.
There’s no doubt that NHS workers deserve a break – burn-out is a real problem, and we know that the best way to address it is rest. What’s more, studies show that sabbaticals are among the best ways to keep long-serving employees in any industry engaged and satisfied. If we could find a way to fund his plan, and hire enough staff to pick up the slack, the health service would doubtless be in a state far less dire than it is – and why stop there? Sabbaticals for all, from doctors to nail technicians, artists to engineers!
Unpaid and enforced breaks are perhaps the worst idea I’ve ever heard, but voluntary, paid ones could be revolutionary. It’ll take a bit of time and cash to get the idea off the ground, but I hear that William’s got both in spades.
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